


Not Broken, Just Bent

by charmed310



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 17:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2516303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmed310/pseuds/charmed310
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for HDS Beltane 2013.</p>
<p>Two years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry slowly begins to pick up the pieces of his life and puts them back together, and finds a few new pieces to add to his heart that he didn’t know he was looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Broken, Just Bent

_Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ_

**March 2000**

_‘The three witches and the knight set off down the hill together, arm in arm, and all four led long and happy lives, and none of them ever knew or suspected that the Fountain’s waters carried no enchantment at all.’_

Harry raised his eyes from the old and worn pages. Teddy was out like a light. Harry smiled and checked his watch which read seven thirty-three. It was a record. 

‘Night, Teddy,’ Harry whispered. His godson barely shuffled in his sleep, though his hair turned smoothly from orange to green. Harry had once seen him go through the whole rainbow in the space of four minutes while he slept. 

Harry turned the lamp down to a more sleep-friendly level and left the room, leaving the door open a crack in case Teddy needed him during the night. Normally, Harry would have gone to Andromeda’s house to babysit, but now that Teddy was three, Andromeda felt that it was time for Harry to take on a little bit more responsibility and allowed him to take Teddy every other weekend.

After a very simple supper of a ham and cheese quiche Andromeda had made for him, Harry flopped down on his ‘comfy’ chair, yawning while he flicked through a Quidditch magazine. At twenty years old, Harry was sure that one his age should never feel as tired as he did. He ought to be out on a Friday night, not seriously considering going to bed. Andromeda could have easily kept Teddy until Saturday, and he’d have been free to go where he pleased. Yet there he sat, virtually alone in his small London flat he’d bought a year ago, after Kreacher had passed away and Harry had sold number twelve Grimmauld Place. He couldn’t bear the thought of living all alone in the big house that held so many bad memories. He also thought that he would be doing himself and the Weasleys a favour by getting his own home. It was awkward to live with Ginny now since he figured out that what she had wasn’t what he really fancied. 

Life seemed to be getting back in some sort of order. Ron and Hermione were getting married on the first of May that year. Traditionally, they would have got married on a Saturday, but they’d wanted to coincide with the Beltane festival, as well as the second anniversary of the Battle at Hogwarts (as so stated in the revised _Hogwarts, A History_ ). They were all ready to attach new memories to that date, and it seemed like a great place to start. Ron had asked him to be his best man, and though he was required to make a speech, Harry was quite pleased to do it for his friend.

In addition to the wedding, Harry could honestly say he was enjoying his Auror Training. He was now nearly a year into the program and flourishing. It was a nice change to practice defensive magic without the threat of pure evil on the opposite end of his wand at every other turn. Harry was also very pleased that Kingsley Shacklebolt even took time from his very busy schedule as Minister to check in on the new class of trainees. Plus, he had Teddy, and Harry was determined to forge a connection with him. He would never let what happened to him happen to another child. 

It had been slow going at first when Teddy was a baby. He’d never even held a baby before, and he was sure he was going to be complete rubbish as a godfather, but Andromeda was so patient and accommodating that he hadn’t felt insecure for long. He knew Andromeda had to be lonely herself, and he had taken her up on her offers to pop by for dinner and spend time with them. Harry hoped he would never know what it felt like to lose a child and a spouse, if he was fortunate enough to have either.

Harry closed the magazine and looked at his watch. It was eight o’ clock. _Eight o’ clock!_. He really needed more of a life. Idly, Harry wondered what others his age might be up to, and his first thoughts were of Draco Malfoy who had inadvertently become part of his life again

Draco had taken to visiting his Aunt Andromeda since the autumn following the devastation at Hogwarts. Harry had also been staying with her so as to get to know Teddy, and Andromeda had joked darkly that she had better open a halfway house for lost boys at the rate they were going. It had been so tremendously awkward the first time Draco had visited while Harry was there that Harry would look back years later and wonder how they had managed to endure a complete conversation. Fresh in their memories was the way Draco had clung to Harry during the mad escape from the Room of Requirement, screaming, tears streaking the soot and dirt on his face; when Harry had returned Draco’s wand, after insisting that he be disarmed of it first; attendance at the seemingly endless funerals. It had all been too much. 

Draco had said he liked to get away from Lucius, who was still conflicted over his defection, and Narcissa was no help to him either.

‘I’ll have a word with her,’ Andromeda said.

Whether she had or not, Harry never knew, but Draco continued to spend time at Andromeda’s and began to form a relationship with his little cousin, much to Harry’s surprise. He and Draco had avoided speaking for a long time, though Teddy soon became their buffer, and Harry had been quite touched to learn that Draco was quite good with children, given how he despised the first years at Hogwarts. Their lack of conversation hadn’t lasted very long due to Andromeda’s very busy schedule with the various charities she was involved with, and her frequent requests for them to look after Teddy while she attended luncheons and dinners. Harry had been invited to quite a few of the events himself, as he had made his own donations, especially to the orphanages, and so Draco was able to have his own time with Teddy. 

These days, Harry felt that he and Draco were becoming quite good friends. As Teddy needed as much support of male role models in his life as he could get, they had taken him on countless picnics, been chaperones at as many children’s birthday parties, and even taken him to his first Quidditch match for his third birthday, all the while enjoying a growing camaraderie with each other. It had taken its time, but they had at last stopped calling each other ‘Potter’ and ‘Malfoy’ all the time, agreeing that it was more to do with Andromeda’s insistence that it would confuse Teddy than anything else. Privately, Harry really liked hearing his Christian name coming from Draco’s mouth, as well as his company. It was safe to say he’d developed a massive crush on Mr Draco Malfoy and had very little intention of letting him know about it just yet. 

Wryly, Harry thought that Draco was likely to be waking up from his pre-drinks nap and getting ready for a night on the town with some eligible bachelor like himself. Maybe there was something to be said for being sociable on the weekends. 

With a flick of his wand, Harry put out the lights in the room. He really was tired, though. He and his fellow trainees spent nearly two hours that day practicing curse deflection with the higher ranked Aurors, and Harry could feel the effects. Harry brushed his teeth and pulled on pyjamas. Normally he wouldn’t have bothered, but it had been quite cold in the nights and early mornings, nor could he justify to Teddy why he was wearing nothing to bed when Teddy (who didn’t love being clothed much either) had to be layered up. Harry curled up under the covers and removed a small bottle of purple potion from his bedside cabinet. He’d never told anyone, but he still had nightmares.

The bottle had just touched his lips when the small fireplace in his room roared to life with green flames, sporting Draco’s head.

‘This is a surprise,’ Harry stated as he hastily put his little bottle away. ‘You could’ve knocked.’ 

‘Knocked on your fire? You make no sense, Potter. Besides, I knew I’d find you in here. Get your arse out of bed and get dressed. We’re going out. I’m dressed and will be waiting for you outside your little flat. Five minutes.’

‘Draco-- ’

‘Five minutes.’

‘I have Teddy this weekend.’

Draco seemed to deflate. ‘Oh.’

‘Yeah.’ Harry pulled his covers up slightly, no longer feeling sleepy. 

‘You could have invited me. I didn’t get to visit this week. Mum was on one of her redecorating rampages, pulling up everything that wasn’t nailed down.’

Harry laughed a little. ‘I can actually understand that.’ Harry himself had wanted to rip everything out of Grimmauld Place. It had been easier just to sell it.

‘It’s not been the best week at Chez Malfoy to say the least. I was kind of looking forward to a night out.’

‘Sorry I can’t be of any help with that. No one else wanted the job to entertain you for an evening?’

‘Oh, stop it. After the week I’ve had, the last thing I want is some teenage boy who thinks he can fix me trying to jump into my pants.’

Harry rolled his eyes, ignoring him and the image of a young man grinding all over Draco’s body in some dimly lit club. ‘D’you want to come in, then? I’ve got a bottle of firewhisky if you’d like a drink… or four.’

‘Oh, but you’re already in bed,’ Draco sighed.

Harry rolled his eyes again and got out of it. ‘Is this better?’

‘Perhaps if you dressed…’

‘Ah, shut it.’

Half an hour later, Harry and Draco were seated back in the living room, glasses of firewhisky in their laps, chatting. If someone had told Harry that this would be happening two years ago, he’d have flung his firewhisky in their face. Now, however, it seemed quite normal for him to sit and chat to Draco, mostly about Teddy, but nevertheless Harry was enjoying himself.

Draco’s eyes lit on the invitation to Ron and Hermione’s wedding that lay on Harry’s coffee table amidst bills and magazines, and he picked it up.

‘’Mr Harry Potter and Guest’,’ Draco read. ‘It should be a good do. I’ve never heard of a Muggle cum Magical wedding before. Who’ll you take?’

‘Hadn’t thought. Are you going, then?’

‘Granger hand-delivered my invitation, a large positive step in my direction in my opinion. I rather think I ought to, don’t you?’

‘Well, she won’t slap you in the face again if you don’t, but it would be rude.’

It was a mark of their friendship that Draco didn’t storm off in a huff at the slap comment, but laughed good-naturedly, and that Harry could comfortably make the joke.

‘Harry?’

Both Harry and Draco started at the small voice behind them. Teddy was awake, rubbing his eyes, hair now bright pink, reminiscent of his mother’s preferred colour.

‘Hi, mate. Were we being too loud?’ Harry said, putting out an arm for Teddy to come and have a seat on his lap. Teddy shook his head.

‘Hello, Draco. When did you come?’ 

‘Just a little while ago. Did you have a bad dream?’ Draco replied.

‘No, I needed the loo. All done now. Will you read me another story, Harry?’

Harry cast an apologetic look at Draco, who shook his head and smiled. ‘It’s fine,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll come with you.’

‘Did you wash your hands?’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘Good boy.’

Back in Teddy’s room, Harry collected the _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ from the bedside table and sat down again on the armchair. Draco sat on the ottoman and leaned back against the overstuffed armchair, settling in to be read to. Teddy was already tucked up in bed, eyeing Harry expectantly. He opened the book and began reading _Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump_. Halfway through, Teddy was fast asleep again and Draco was yawning. He turned to Harry and took the book from his hands, turning to the back where _The Tale of Three Brothers_ began.

‘Still a little hard to believe this was all real, or at least the Hallows were,’ he murmured. ‘My mum used to read these to me all the time.’

Harry gazed down at the pages again, touching them gently. It didn’t seem like very long ago that he had first heard of the Hallows, that day at the Lovegood’s home. It had been good news to learn that Xenophilius had made it out of there alive and he and Luna were rebuilding, as time moved on regardless of the losses. 

Draco’s hand rested over Harry’s, warm and firm, and Harry looked up into his eyes. His stomach danced at their proximity.

‘Harry, I don’t think I ever thanked you for what you did.’

‘For giving back your wand? Really?’

‘No, not just that. For, you know, making the sacrifice; for letting her know I was still alive; for not letting me die.’

Harry shrugged. ‘It’s not in my nature to let good go to waste.’

Draco turned his wand on the lamp and dimmed the lights for Teddy. He got up and gestured for Harry to follow him outside.

‘I suppose I ought to tell you the truth,’ Draco began as they were once again seated with their drinks in the living room.

‘The truth about what?’ Harry felt a little nervous. Was Draco about the drop a bomb that he’d been married off to the most eligible witch and wouldn’t be coming round anymore? Or worse, the nearest eligible wizard? At least Harry would still have a bit of a chance if Draco was forced to be with a witch.

‘Why I came here tonight. I had a chat with Aunt Andromeda, you see, and she told me in no uncertain terms that I ought to stop feeling sorry about the past and pay more bloody attention to what is actually going on in front of my face.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean you, Harry. Aunt A. informed me that for the last six months, she’s been bombarded by our raging hormones and that it was high time we effing well got it together and, well, got together. I came here tonight with the intention of taking you out on a date, ordering you some very expensive wine and telling you how I felt about you. Then, if the mood was right, we’d have a fantastic shag and continue in that trend for the next several decades or so. I suppose checking in beforehand to see if you were available might have been the better way of doing things. Nerves make me a little bit overzealous.’

Flabbergasted, Harry could only stare. For the first time in his life, was he, Harry Potter _not_ going to have to fight tooth and nail for what he wanted?

‘Aunt Andromeda said you’d probably be very easy to convince from the way you’ve been staring at me since I walked through her foyer that first time.’

Harry could feel himself heating up. Had he been that obvious? 

‘She told me I’d been giving you that same look since that same day, and that you shouldn’t feel ashamed.’

‘Well, if she says so,’ Harry finally muttered, finishing his firewhisky with one gulp. He raised his eyes to Draco’s again. ‘What does she suggest we do next?’

Draco laughed and took Harry’s tumbler out of his hand and sat beside him on the sofa. He placed one hand on Harry’s knee, and the other up to his face to remove Harry’s glasses. 

‘It’s up to us now, I think.’

Later, as he fell asleep in Draco’s arms, Harry knew there would no longer be a need for his little bottle of purple potion.

_Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ Ϟ_

**May 1st 2000**

‘And you thought something was going to go wrong,’ Harry whispered to Ron as they stood together at the altar to sign the legal documents.

‘Mind you don’t blot the ink,’ Ron said as he handed Harry the quill.

‘Idiot.’

Harry signed his name on the Muggle marriage certificate, and then on the Ministry of Magic parchment. The magical bonding had been spectacular. Molly had cried the whole way through, and the Muggles had been enthralled by the overtones of magic they’d felt while the Muggle Minister had given his blessing. Harry and Draco had caught each other’s eyes during the bonding, and they’d shared a very special smile that made Harry think that one day, they too might be able to join hands and exchange rings to symbolise their own commitment. He couldn’t wait until the reception so that they could finally be together.

_Surely_ , Harry thought irritably, _speeches ought to have a time limit._ He looked at his watch again and back at Draco, who looked as antsy as Harry felt, and kept shooting glances at George Weasley, the Master of Ceremonies, trying to silently tell him to hurry things along. Harry’s own toast hadn’t been nearly as long as Dr Granger’s was. Harry almost cried with relief fifteen minutes and three toasts later, when George invited the newlyweds to enjoy their first dance as husband and wife, and he was able to refill his flute of champagne. Unable to find Draco in the crowd that had since gathered to watch the dancing, Harry stood back for a moment to watch his friends. In spite of himself, he felt a slight prickling behind his eyes as he watched the two, completely captivated by one another, while happy tears rolled down Hermione’s cheeks. 

Harry jumped when he felt a warm hand on the back of his neck, then his nose picked up the faint scent of Draco’s cologne and he smiled. He dropped his head back to say hello, but found a much nicer greeting in the form of Draco’s lips meeting his own. His stomach squirmed pleasantly, sending jolts of electricity through his body, and more importantly between his legs, as Draco kissed him soundly.

‘You clean up well,’ Harry said, holding Draco at arm’s length. 

The song had changed and more people had gotten up and joined the couple on the dance floor.

‘‘Enchanting’ was the word I chose for you, actually,’ Draco responded. ‘Green takes you nicely.’

Harry felt a bit hot under the collar, but chided, ‘Come now, let’s not steal the bride’s thunder; she’s essentially supposed to be the most beautiful person in the room.’

‘I suppose you’re right, but you do look amazing.’

‘Thanks.’ 

The two men found seats together and they watched the couples moving around the dance floor, laughing at the flower girls who were chasing Ron’s nephews and Teddy round the perimeter of the room.

Later on, just after dinner had been served, and all of the teenage cousins and most of the adults had really got into the drink, Harry and Ron sat together to digest.

‘Harry,’ Ron said with a snort of laughter, ‘looks like Hermione’s sixteen year old cousin is trying to pick up your boyfriend.’

‘What?’ Harry whipped around in his chair, and then began to laugh. Draco was standing near the bar on the other side of the room with a glass of champagne in his hand, being wildly chatted up by Hermione’s very pretty cousin. ‘Oh dear, I hope he lets her down gently. Shall I go over there and make it easier?’

‘Nah, this is loads more fun.’ Ron said.

They watched as Draco humoured her.

‘How can she not tell? Surely she’s been watching him longer than the last five minutes,’ Harry said.

‘Those Granger girls can be pretty ballsy,’ Ron said. ‘This is really excellent flirting, though!’

The girl had placed her hand on Draco’s chest as she talked to him, laughing at something he was saying. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and Harry noticed the subtle ‘come-fuck-me’ signals, as she ran her fingers over her collarbone and over her mouth. Harry found he couldn’t stop laughing.

‘Shite, if Hermione had done that to me back in the day, I’d have been a pool of jelly at her feet!’ Ron said, watching in awe.

‘Oh, please, she makes you like that anyway,’ Harry said, still chortling.

‘Talking about me?’ Hermione had come over to sit with them, but first had to gather her dress together and arrange it over the chair beside her to be comfortable.

‘Just our continued amazement at the, er, fascinating qualities of your family,’ Harry said.

She rolled her eyes and smiled at Ron, who leaned over and kissed her.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I just needed to sit for a little while; being a bride is hard work! I haven’t seen most of these people since I don’t know when, and it’s a pain in the arse trying to keep my non-magic stories straight for them. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve almost said Ministry of Magic in response to where I work; it gets worse with each glass of champagne I drink.’

‘Oh my, she’s shifted closer,’ Harry said his eyes back on Draco and Hermione’s young cousin. He gasped in mock surprise. ‘There goes that hand up his chest again.’

‘What are you looking at?’ Hermione said.

‘Your dear, sweet, little teenage cousin appears to be after Harry’s very homosexual boyfriend,’ Ron explained.

Hermione glanced over to the pair of them and clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Oh no, that’s Kristen. She’s already been in loads of trouble at her boarding school for getting off with boys at dances. ‘Uncle Robbie’s going to lambaste her!’ Hermione said, giggling madly.

‘No need, really,’ Harry said, trying to push down the irritation now rising in his chest. Draco appeared to be very pleased with himself as Kristen’s flirting grew more physical and kept making her laugh. Harry was also slightly disturbed that he was letting her hand move quite so rapidly up and down his chest. 

‘Bloody hell, I don’t want to know what this is doing for his ego.’

‘Good point. Perhaps you should go and rescue him before he drowns in compliments,’ Ron said.

‘Harry Potter, your eyes are getting rather green,’ Hermione said watching as her friend couldn’t tear his eyes from her baby cousin’s hand.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, shut up,’ he snapped. 

Ron and Hermione laughed.

‘Oh, go on mate, get your man back. Hermione and I have some more fossilised relatives to shout greetings to,’ Ron said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

‘I should leave him to suffer,’ Harry said. ‘Though with my luck he’ll end up picking the fish over the meat, once he’s had a taste.’

‘Harry, for goodness’ sake!’ Hermione hissed in disgust, while Ron went off in peals of laughter.

‘Hey, nothing’s wrong with a little fish every now and again,’ he said.

Hermione dragged him off after muttering something that sounded like, ‘I wish I could have married an adult’ under her breath. 

Harry chuckled and decided to put a stop to the little nymphomaniac attacking ‘his very homosexual boyfriend’.

‘Hello, _love_.’ Harry gushed as he approached the pair at the bar. ‘I’ve looked for you everywhere.’

He wrapped an arm around Draco and smiled at Kristen. ‘You’re Hermione’s cousin, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘I’m Harry Potter.’

It was interesting, he thought, that her eyes hadn’t widened in surprise or awe when he introduced himself. He rather liked Muggles for that. 

She shook his hand. ‘I’m Kristen Granger,’ she said. ‘I suppose you two know each other?’ She looked between Harry and Draco, clearly trying to decide if Harry was drunk or not.

‘You could say that,’ Harry said nonchalantly, smiling at Draco, who looked amused. He nuzzled Draco’s neck, kissing the soft flesh, smiling when he felt Draco shudder slightly. Harry smiled brightly at Kristen again. ‘Enjoying yourself?’

‘Splendidly,’ Kristen said, blushing scarlet. She excused herself and dashed off to the other side of the room.

‘So, I was just discussing the dinner menu with Ron and Hermione,’ Harry said casually. ‘Which did you prefer, the meat or the fish?’

‘Idiot,’ Draco muttered as he pulled Harry closer and kissed him.

‘That’s what I thought.’

‘Come and dance with me,’ Harry said, holding his hand out to Draco. They’d just finished serving dessert and he’d had enough to drink not to be self-conscious about his severe lacking in dancing talent. 

‘Are you sure? I mean, we’re not exactly the, er, standard couple…’ Draco said hesitantly, looking around at the men and women dancing together.

‘Of course I’m sure, now come on.’

Both the Grangers and the Weasleys had informed Harry that he was not to worry about raised eyebrows or any kind of bigotry towards him and Draco, and they were to enjoy themselves as much as possible.

‘And about your dancing abilities, or lack thereof?’ Draco said, following Harry to the middle of the floor.

‘You’re going to lead, of course.’

‘Ah.’

Harry grinned and placed his left hand on Draco’s shoulder, allowing his right to be enfolded in Draco’s left. They’d only danced a couple of steps when the song changed to Elton John’s ‘Something About the Way You Look Tonight’. Draco wouldn’t have known it, but Harry did, and he felt his heart flutter as he thought about the words and what they meant to a couple.

His eyes locked with Draco’s, and he let the music wash over him, feeling something extremely special in that moment. He closed his arms around Draco’s neck, bringing their foreheads together, and closed his eyes. Draco’s hands slipped slowly and intimately around him, under his jacket, and stroked soft circles over his back, slowing his dance steps, creating more intimacy.

The rest world seemed to fade out into nothing, leaving Harry and Draco alone together with the beautiful words of the song, speaking volumes about their feelings for each other. 

When the song had changed into something else with a faster pace, Harry opened his eyes again and was almost surprised to find himself in a room full of people. Before he could open his mouth to speak, warm hands enveloped his face, and Draco was kissing him, his lips gentle but sure; a kiss so sweet, it made Harry weak at the knees.

‘I love you,’ Draco whispered in his ear.

It was the first time he’d said it, and Harry smiled and closed his hands around Draco’s. ‘I love you, too.’

An abrupt end to the music brought them out of their reverie, and they turned to face George who was again at the PA.

‘And now, I invite the bride to please take a seat, for I have just been informed that it is time for the divestment of her garter belt.’

‘What’s a garter belt?’ Draco asked Harry.

‘It’s a highly uncomfortable elasticated piece of lace that Hermione’s wearing around her thigh that Ron now has to go and retrieve, and then throw it into a sea of single men. The person who catches it is supposed to be the next to get married. The same thing goes for the bride’s bouquet, except she throws it to the single women.’

‘Muggles are unusual.’

‘Quite.’

Just before midnight, the bride and groom took to the floor the final time, dancing to ‘Hotel California’ by the Eagles. Harry danced with Molly, who was crying her eyes out with an intense mixture of happiness and sadness that her ‘baby boy’ was no longer her baby. 

‘It’ll be OK, Molly, you still have Ginny,’ Harry consoled her.

‘Yes, because she’s not getting married until she’s forty,’ Molly had sobbed.

Ginny, who was dancing with Charlie nearby, rolled her eyes extravagantly as they passed.

As the song ended, the happy couple began their farewell procession to the courtyard outside where their vehicle was waiting to take them to their honeymoon suite. 

George and Lee Jordan proved a spectacular firework display to send Ron and Hermione off, as well as to commemorate the Beltane festival, and a tribute to Hogwarts.

It was now two years to the day of when they had encountered their losses. Harry still felt the pain in his chest when he thought of how he would one day answer Teddy’s questions about his parents, but at the very least, Teddy would get the truth, and would always have the love of a family. He wiped a single tear from his eye as Ron and Hermione sped off towards their new life together.

A moment later, Draco slipped his hand through Harry’s and they gazed up at the fire strewn sky together, Teddy fast asleep over Draco’s shoulder.

_Ϟ Ϟ Fin Ϟ Ϟ_


End file.
